John Davis Collection
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of materials from aspects of John Davis’s career in the punk, and indie rock scene in Washington, D.C., in the 1990s and 2000s. The majority of items were created by Davis, are about him, or are about bands he was involved with; the remainder are directly connected to the broader punk scene.
Dates
- Creation: 1991 - 2015
Creator
- Davis, John (Person)
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Access
This collection does not have any restrictions.
Biographical / Historical
John Davis performed as drummer in the Washington, D.C.-based band Q and Not U, founded in 1998, with Harris Klahr, Chris Richards and Matt Borlik. They recorded and released music through 2005. Davis was a writer and editor for the music zines Held Like Sound, Confab, and Slanted during the same period. This collection also includes materials for other bands Davis was involved with; Corm, Neptune’s Daughter, Title Tracks, and Georgie James.
Extent
3 Boxes
Arrangement
The collection consists of the following series:
Series I: Audio Recordings
Series II: Ephemera
Series III: Fliers
Series IV: Photographs
Series V: Posters
Series VI: Press Clippings
Series VII: Promotional Materials
Series VIII: Zines
Series I: Audio Recordings
This series consists of published audio recordings by Davis’s bands. These materials are separated by format, and arranged alphabetically by artist.
Subseries A: Compact Discs
This subseries consists of CDs of Davis’s bands and others.
Subseries B: Cassettes
This subseries consists of audio cassettes of punk bands with which Davis was not involved.
Series II: Ephemera
This series consists of a Rites of Spring t-shirt.
Series III: Fliers
This series consists of fliers promoting performances by DC-area punk bands, especially Davis’s bands. These materials are arranged alphabetically by venue; where no venue could be determined, they are identified by street address.
Series IV: Photographs
This series consists of photographs of or by Davis, most of which are of one of Davis’s bands. These materials are arranged alphabetically by the band name.
Series V: Posters [oversized]
This series consists of posters promoting concerts or CDs. These materials are separated by purpose and arranged alphabetically by artist.
Subseries A: Album Posters
This subseries consists of posters promoting album releases, mostly but not exclusively of Davis’s bands.
Subseries B: Concert Posters
This subseries consists of posters promoting concerts, most of or including one of Davis’s bands.
Series VI: Press Clippings
This series consists of press clippings regarding Q and Not U, primarily covering the release of their album No Kill No Beep Beep and accompanying tours.
Materials are arranged alphabetically by source.
Series VII: Promotional Materials
This series consists of miscellaneous materials used to promote things other than concerts, including fliers promoting Q and Not U’s tour albums, and a Dischord catalogue.
Materials are arranged alphabetically by source.
Series VIII: Zines
This series consists of zines edited, contributed to, or collected by Davis. Zines edited by Davis in this collection are Held Like Sound, Slanted, and Confab.
Materials are arranged alphabetically by zine title.
Custodial History
This collection was donated to the DC Public Library Special Collections department by John Davis.
Processing Information
The collection was processed at the folder level.
Topical
- Title
- John Davis
- Subtitle
- An inventory of John Davis at DC Public Library
- Author
- Anne Damtoft, 2019
- Date
- 2017-10-04
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the The People's Archive, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library Repository